Egyptian Ahmed Mostafa moved in just six weeks ago after arriving from Canada. When he saw flames outside his kitchen he ran for the emergency exit.

"I was in my room and then suddenly the alarm was on, and when I went to the kitchen I saw the fire from the window, from outside so I ran down the stairs.

"When I was outside the main door I saw the smoke coming out of the lobby.

"I only worry about my passport, that's it - other than that I'm fine. Thank God."

The building is close to Sheikh Zayed Road on the Jebel Ali side of the marina.

The Trident Waterfront building was also evacuated, according to residents, who said they feared the flames would spread.

Ezio Patrizi, who lives in Trident, said: "I saw black smoke coming from underneath the building and going up into the air. My daughter and I went outside the balcony and saw the smoke coming from the building and realised the tower [next to us] was on fire.

"Due to the sandstorm the fire spread really, really, really quickly from the ground floor up, in 30, 45 seconds.

"There was glass exploding, debris falling. It was a mess, really frightening.

"We were told to evacuate; of course we heard the sirens from the apartment. I ran down the stairs and alerted the other people.

"The building security were shouting 'come down, come down'.

Dubai Civil Defence controls the fire that broke out in Zen Tower in the Dubai Marina area amidst extremely windy and dusty weather conditions; the building was evacuated safely and no injuries were reported. pic.twitter.com/Q1vONssMim